


where am i?

by dryadfiona



Category: Kisses & Curses (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Clairvoyance, F/M, Prophetic Visions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 19:12:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12637401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dryadfiona/pseuds/dryadfiona
Summary: Getting lost in his visions reminds Rhys of being underwater and not knowing which way is up.





	where am i?

It says a lot about the current state of Rhys' life that seeing the world burning isn't the bad part of the night.

He's calm, sitting cross-legged on a cliff he doesn't recognize. The ocean below is boiling, and distinctly more red than usual--though he's not sure if it's Biblical or just the reflection of the fires around him. Likely a mix of both.

Rhys knows that this isn't real. It's merely a possible future. He's spent too much of his life worrying about the possibles to stress over it.

Until, of course, Julie comes in and ruins everything.

"Rhys?"

He turns, and sees her, beautiful and strangely casual in the midst of chaos.

"Don't you think it's a little warm for a cardigan right now?" he asks, not expecting her to answer.

"Rhys!"

She throws herself forward and hugs him, and he can feel it. For a second, he melts into it, but freezes when he realizes.

Rhys can feel her.

"Julie--" He's panicked now, and she shakes her head, tries to say something, but he can't shut himself up. "I thought this wasn't real--"

"It's not," she says, and it's her calm more than her words that convinces him. "Deep breaths, Rhys."

"How are you...is this a dream?"

Julie shrugs. "Sort of!"

"This can't be a vision," Rhys says slowly. "You wouldn't be here--not  _really_ here--you're a Stargazer."

She laughs. "Well aware, thanks! Care to take another guess? Do you remember anything?"

Rhys closes his eyes and tries to think. Julie's still close, and it  _should_ be distracting. It is, but...

"The Schattenaire!"

Julie beams. "Yeah! You got it!"

"That doesn't explain..."

"How I'm here. Right. So...this is a dream. A prophetic one, even!"

"Julie, you've surprised me before, but this would be..." He laughs. A Fallen Star slams into the ground right beside them, bleaching the area of color.

"The Schattenaire sort of forced your visions into overdrive. You're having trouble breaking out of it! And I'm...well. I'm not really  _here,_ per say, but I'm by you. The...real you. Physical you? Let's not split hairs."

"Waiting by my bedside?" Rhys asks, a smile playing on the corner of his mouth.

Julie smirks. "Wake up and then we can have  _that_ conversation. Until then..." She stands up, and offers him a hand. "Ready to keep looking?"

Rhys takes her hand, and she pulls him up with surprising strength. "I still don't understand why you're here."

"Because you need help," she says with a conviction too simple to be anything but honest. "And because your subconscious recognizes that, even if  _you_ don't. So..." She pulls her hand away and finger-guns at him. "Here I am!"

"So...you're my subconscious representation of Julie?"

"Got it in one! Or...not one. This is your third guess, I think? That's still pretty good. Probably on par."

"I don't think Julie's actually this prone to rambling," he says, unable to stop himself from smiling.

"Clearly you do, or I wouldn't _be_ rambling," she retorts. Her eyes are sparkling. "Besides, your subconscious thoughts about Julie don't usually give her the chance to ramble."

Rhys averts his gaze.

"Nothing to say, Mr. Ceridwen?" She laughs. "C'mon. We can have this conversation when you wake up."

\--

They're in a church. In its glory, Rhys imagines all white and silver, the chandelier above them lit with candles that illuminate the entire room. Now, of course, the giant holes in the ceiling and the debris strewn about ruin the effect, but it's still a lovely place.

"Why here?" Rhys asks.

Julie shrugs. "It's your subconscious. Or if this is the future...your guess is as good as mine!"

Rhys looks around, narrows his eyes. "I...think I may know this place. So this is likely my subconscious."

"You do?" Julie says. She doesn't sound surprised. "Where is it?"

"My sister got married here," he realizes. "It was the happiest I'd ever seen her."

"Family issues? How Freudian." Julie sticks out her tongue. "I hate Freud."

"Do you really?" Rhys asks.

"I could," Julie says. "I mean, you don't know all that much about me. For all you know, I'm a serial killer."

"I believe that describes our Huntress companion more than you, Miss Grier."

She doesn't crack a smile at the joke. "But really. You don't know that much about me. It worries me, and I'm not even real! Can't imagine how she feels. How you do."

"I..." Rhys is caught off-guard. "Is this why we're here? How...did we get here?"

"It's a dream. Transitions don't really..." Julie waves her hands vaguely. "But we're here because of your family. You're worried about them. And...since I'm here, something to do with me."

"The...curse," Rhys says hesitantly.

Julie's face is open, accepting. She's not real, so it shouldn't help. It does.

"My family's curse. I'd love to show you to my family so you both can annoy the hell out of each other, but..."

"You're worried I won't want anything to do with you."

Rhys doubts Julie could be this calm about this. Or...not calm, but indifferent. She's listening like a therapist, not like a friend, a partner.

"I think I prefer the real Julie," he says.

She rolls her eyes. "At least you know you're worked up over it now."

\--

They're in the forest in Salem, and they're fighting for their lives. Rhys can see himself, another version of himself, at least, using more magic than he's ever attempted before in a last-ditch attempt to make their way forward. It doesn't matter, though--Julie's clearly bled out on the ground beside him. They can't finish the Pact without her.  _As if that's my main concern._

Anastasia is practically snarling at the people around them, daggers in hand. She makes quick work of a few, but there's so many of them, an unending force.

"This is the future," Rhys says.

Julie doesn't say anything. She's staring at her own body with the morbid curiosity usually reserved for pictures of train wrecks. Seemingly horrified, but detached.

"I've seen this before," he says, if only to break the silence.

"You sound very resigned," Julie says, crouching by her body. The battle rages around her but she doesn't seem to care. From this close, Rhys can see the other him has tear tracks down his face. "Or hopeless."

"I'd rather I'm there than you," Rhys says. "Than her."

He almost wants her to be offended by the distinction. She isn't.

"She could at least do a patchwork Pact without you," not-Julie says. "Claire did."

"Don't do that," Rhys says.

"What?" not-Julie asks. "You stopped thinking of me as Julie. So I'm not acting like Julie."

"Just..." Rhys says. "Please."

"My mom did," not-Julie says. "Does that help?"

\--

Julie burning. Julie screaming. Julie crying. Julie dead, Julie dead, Julie dead.

"Stop," Rhys says, choked up. "Please, just--"

"This is only partly the future, you know," not-Julie says. Her voice is softer, kinder. "You're worried about her."

"Of course I'm worried about her! I--"

Not-Julie quirks an eyebrow.

"Oh," Rhys says. "Oh."

"Think you're ready to wake up now," not-Julie says. "Talk to Julie."

"Thank you?" Rhys says. "I'm still not sure what just happened."

"A small coma," not-Julie says. "The curse is broken. Go. Deal with your issues." She smiles, small and sad. "Might not have much time left."

\--

Rhys opens his eyes slowly, wincing at the light. He feels hungover.

"Julie," he says.

She looks up, face going from worried to ecstatic in an instant. "Rhys!"


End file.
